Toy balancing, hooking, and locking block



Oct. 12, 1954 w c, R ADE 2,691, 243

TOY BALANCING. HOOKING, AND LOCKING BLOCK Filed Jan. 21, 1953 IN VENTOR Patented Oct. 12, 1954 TOY BALANCING, HOOKING, AND LOCKING OGK William 0. Bade, Long Beach, Calif. I Application January 21, 1953, Serial No. 332,333

. 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to toy balancinghooking and locking blocks.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a set of blocks whereby to give to the blocks the appearance of a tumbler and to be able to connect the blocks in. different ways so that the blocks appear to be tumbling, or the figures thereon representing hand, head and. legs going through tumbling acts will be apparent.

It is another object of the invention to provide blocks which can be connected with one another in-three different ways, either by balancing, hooking or locking. r

It is still. another object of the invention to provide a toy block having dovetail projections and slots and wherein the bottoms of the slots are provided with convexed or upwardly curved surface to provide support for the dovetail projections in the different positions within the dovetail slots.

Other objects of the invention are to provide toy balancing, hooking and locking blocks having the above objects in mind, which are of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to connect with one another, of pleasing appearance and efiicient in use.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of the block;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the two blocks assembled with one another in locking relationship;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of two blocks connected with one another in hooked relationship;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of two blocks connected with one another but both of the blocks standing on edge and on the same level;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of two blocks with one balanced on the other.

Referring now to the figures, I0 represents one of the blocks. This block has a round cylindrical body portion II and a plurality of dovetail projections I2, I3, I4, l5 and I6. The projection I2 is representative of a head of a tumbler figure. The projections l3 and [4 are representative of the arms of the tumbler. The projections I5 and. I6 are representative of the legs of the tumbler. On the body portion I I are button decorations I'I.

These projections are spaced by dovetail slots I8. Each of these slots has a convexed or curved narrow across the outer part of the space. and between the: ends of the projections. The outer end of the projection is wider than the open end of the recess but is slightly less in width than the bottom of the recess I8. The

block can have any length. It can be of narrow length and fitted together in a puzzleelike fashion and rested flat on a horizontal surface, or it can have body to it with substantial width, as shown in Fig. 3- and permitted to be supported on its leg projections in an upright manner.

When the projection of, one block is placed over the projection of another block, as shown in. Fig. 4, with block B hooked upon block A, the upper edge of projection I3 will lie on the inner portion of the projection I 4 of block B and will have the lower edge of projection I4 lying on the outer part of projection I3. In other words, the projection I3 is hooked under the lower edge of projection I4 of the block B, Fig. 4. Any number of blocks can be hooked together in this manner. Inasmuch as the bottom I9 of the recess is curved, the fiat outer edge of the projection cannot engage with the recess in a true dovetail manner. The bottom of therecess is not wide enough to accommodate the fiat outer face of the projection I3 in such a manner as to have a true dovetail fit with the recess.

As shown in Fig. 2, the dovetail projection of block A can be fitted into a recess of block B squarely with the outer face of the projection I3 engaging with the high point of the bottom I9 of the recess. In this manner, the projection will fit squarely within the recess and a line extending between the centers of the two blocks will divide squarely the projection I3. To fit the projection I3 into the recess in this manner, it will be inserted into the recess by longitudinal motion of the block along its center axis, and the blocks fitted from one face of each other. In fitting the blocks in the manner as shown in Fig. 4, it is not necessary to fit the projection into the recess from the end of the block, but it is merely necessary for the block B to be hooked over the upper edge of projection l3 of block A.

As shown in Fig. 5, the blocks can be arranged in a slightly different manner and along a horizontal surface. A weighted block 2I having a recess 22 may be rested on a fiat surface and one of the projections I5 of a block A will be inserted in the recess 22 so that the block will appear to be standing upon feet projections I5 and I6 and will be kept from rolling. Block B 3 can have its foot projection l5 hooked on the underside of projection M of the block A so that head projection I2 of block B will be turned to the side, in the act of tumbling, and block B will be supported squarely on foot projection Hi.

In Fig. 6, it will be seen that block B can be balanced in an upside-down manner with its head projection i2 on head projection ii of the bottom block A. The block A will be supported upon feet projections l5 and I6. Inasmuch as the outer ends of the projections are flat, there is little trouble in causing the block B to be supported on the block A.

It should now be apparent that each of these blocks have five dovetail-like projections and. five dovetail-like recesses equally spaced from one another and lying between adjacent dovetail projections. The outer faces of the projections are fiat so that they may engage with one another in a flat-wise manner and so that one of the blocks can support the other block in a balancing manner. It should also be apparent that the blocks can be hooked together by merely hooking one of the projections of one block under one side of a projection of another block, as shown in Fig. 4. Also, the projection of one block can be locked squarely in the recess of another block as shown in Fig. 2. The curved bottom of the recess prohibits the fiat face of the projection from lying deep in the recess, but at the same time positions the flat face of the projection so that the projection can have one side enter into the bottom corner of the recess in a hooked fashion, as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be apparent that by using a plurality of these blocks, say twelve, and employing the three different ways of connecting the blocks together, hooking, looking or balancing, many different forms of balancing and acrobatic stunts can be worked out or portrayed.

While it will be seen that slight modifications may be effected on these blocks, it should be understood that such changes would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention and as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A toy balancing, hooking and locking block comprising a central circular body portion, five projections circumferentially spaced about the body portion and extending outwardly therefrom, said projections being of dovetail shape and having flat outer faces, said projections being spaced from one another by dovetail recesses of a size adapted to receive a projection of another block, the width of the outer end of a projection being greater than the width of the open end of the recess and slightly less in width than the bottom of the recess, the bottom of said recess being curved and convex with the center of the circular body portion being the common radial center for the bottoms of all of the recesses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,648,199 Sargent Nov. 8, 192'? 2,389,365 Johnson Nov. 20, 1945 2,406,759 Glukes Sept. -3, 1946 2,472,363 Blackinton June '7, 1949 

